Sentence reduced for airman guilty of child sexual assault

Jul. 5, 2013

Joshua A. Smith / Air Force

Written by

Staff writer

A former Ramstein Air Base, Germany, staff sergeant who raped and sexually assaulted three girls between the ages of 3 and 7 was given a break on his sentence June 19.

A military judge in November 2010 sentenced to life without parole Joshua A. Smith, who found his victims by advertising babysitting services through the base’s Web-based classified advertisement service.

The Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals reduced the sentence to life, which makes Smith eligible for parole. The court wrote it was amending the sentence to “maintain uniformity and even-handedness” in its sentencing decisions.

Two of the children Smith assaulted were military dependents; the third was a German citizen. He also videotaped and photographed his attacks on the 4- and 3-year-olds.

Smith came under suspicion after the 7-year-old told her parents she had seen his penis while he was reading her a Bible story and that he had taken naked pictures of her. In a written statement, Smith said he hated hurting children and had wanted to get caught.

He told military judge Col. Dawn Eflein that he deserved a life sentence.

Smith said in his appeal that he was the only airman to be sentenced to life without parole.